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With a population of over 29 million, Peru is the fourth most populous country in South America. Peru consists of western arid coastal plains and deserts, the central sierra highlands and Andes Mountains, and eastern lowlands with tropical rainforests that are part of the Amazon Basin. Peru’s economy is driven by agriculture and mining.
A wide disparity of income exists in Peru, with the wealthiest 10% of the population controlling 35.4% of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 10% controls just 1.6%. This inequality is apparent in the large gap in access to basic services: in rural areas of Peru, according to the Joint Monitoring Program, only 65% of people have access to improved water sources, compared to 91% in urban areas. Sanitation is worse: only 37% of rural residents have access to improved sanitation facilities versus 81% of urban residents.
Water For People–Peru began its program in late 2008, selecting three rural municipalities: Cascas, La Libertad; Majes, Arequipa; and Tumbaden, Cajamarca. Water For People–Peru later expanded its programming to include sustainable sanitation work in peri-urban Arequipa. In each of these municipalities, Water For People works with the local government, communities, schools, and private and civil society organizations.
Everyone Forever is a unique programmatic effort to provide water and sanitation to Everyone in targeted districts and municipalities, Forever. It means these districts and communities never again need another international water agency to address their water challenges. And it provides a model for greater replication, leading to a push for national full water and sanitation coverage. Water For People-Peru is starting its Everyone Forever programming in Cascas, a municipality with approximately 14,200 people. Water For People-Peru and partners will largely rehabilitate existing infrastructure, extend services to those living without safe drinking water, and tackle the long-term sustainability challenges that have led to broken down systems, with a special focus on water resource management, financing for major repairs and replacement, and monitoring.
Lasting water and sanitation solutions can only be achieved when local role-players—the private sector, civil society, and local government—are supported. As such, Water For People–Peru is deeply involved with key local stakeholders, including Peru’s Vice Ministry of Housing and Sanitation; the regional governments of La Libertad and Cajamarca; the municipalities of Cascas, Majes, and Tumbaden; the local NGO Soluciones Prácticas; and the private company AguaEcoSanPeru.
In the first part of 2012, Water For People-Peru will hold certification training to develop water and sanitation professionals in Cascas and Tumbaden, so the districts have access to the human resources with the necessary skill sets to oversee, manage, and maintain water systems over time. Staff will complete an institutional diagnostic study of both districts to better understand their capacity to reach and sustain Everyone over time. Water For People-Peru will also work on influencing integrated water resource management policy and further define the role the district and communities can play in protecting water sources. In Majes and peri-urban Arequipa, programming will continue to focus on understanding sanitation demand and practices and stimulating market-based approaches to increase access to sanitation facilities.
In communities, Water For People-Peru will invest significant time, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of current water committees, addressing their challenges and providing training that increases their ability to manage their systems over time. Water For People-Peru will also prepare and review technical designs for water systems, as well as facilitate community meetings to discuss cash and in-kind contributions necessary for the water systems being implemented.
